License plate cameras lead Columbus police to stolen vehicle

A wanted woman was arrested and a stolen vehicle recovered after Columbus police received assistance from a license-plate reading camera system.

According to reports from the Columbus Police Department, officers received a notification from one of the community’s Flock cameras that a stolen car had entered the city at about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Police found and stopped the vehicle near Jonathan Moore Pike and Carr Hill Road.

The driver, 24-year-old Sarah N. Ferguson of Gary, was taken into custody. Police discovered that she was wanted on several outstanding warrants from other counties. And the vehicle she was driving had been reported stolen from Georgia.

Ferguson was arrested on preliminary charges of auto theft and driving while suspended, as well as outstanding warrants from Hendricks, Lake and Johnson counties.

The Flock camera system was purchased by Bartholomew County last year. The cameras have the ability to read license plates and to quickly process those against a database to alert police, such as for stolen vehicles, or vehicles suspected in child abduction or missing persons cases. That information is then forwarded to police via a computer program in their vehicle.